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"I Had a
Premonition About Amber
Valletta Last Night..." |
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Directed by Mennan Yapo
- Written by Bill Kelly
Starring Sandra Bullock,
Julian McMahon, Amber
Valletta, Nia Long
Marcus Lyle Brown, Mark
Famiglietti, Jeff Galpin
Distributed by Sony -
2007 - 97m - Rated PG13 |
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TC Candler's Review
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C |
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All signs point to mediocrity... |
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Sandra Bullock's
latest thriller hooks the viewer early in the proceedings. She plays
Linda, a mother to two daughters and wife to Jim (Julian McMahon).
After receiving an odd voice mail message & going about her regular
daily routine, she is paid a visit by the local sheriff bearing
horrible news. Jim is dead -- a head-on collision with a truck.
Devastated, Linda breaks the news to her daughters and spends a
solemn night with her own mother as they discuss funeral plans and
insurance matters. She eventually drifts into slumber on the living
room sofa.
The next morning, Linda wakes in her bed, ambles slowly downstairs,
only to find her husband eating cereal and watching TV before he
goes to work. It must have been a bad dream. That day is an awkward
one, as she struggles to shake off the vividness of that dream.
The next morning, Linda ambles slowly downstairs once again, only
this time to find her entire family dressed in black, mourning the
loss of Jim.
It all gets even stranger when cuts appear on the face of one of her
daughters and Linda is hauled away by a mysterious psychiatrist.
The "Groundhog Day" effect keeps occurring... eventually signalling
to Linda that she has to do something to reverse the inevitability
of fate... to prevent her premonitions.
Part of the problem is the repetitive nature of the film, spinning
around in circles, looping back on itself... It all gets a tad
messy.
Despite its intriguing premise and alluring opening third,
"Premonition" strains to keep up with its ambition. It tries to act
as a riveting puzzle that we are supposed to be deciphering from
credits to credits. Instead, all we really want to do is hit fast
forward to the "big reveal" and move on to the next film.
I will grant that the film looks great, the score enhances the mood
beautifully and the performances are all very good. Sandra Bullock
pulls out a restrained turn along with a handful of her best scenes
to this point in her career. I also noted a fine effort by Amber
Valetta as "the other woman". She is fast becoming a top notch
actress who should soon command a leading role in a major
production.
"Premonition" teases with quality from the get-go. Even the
one-sheet poster art is some of the most unique and fascinating in
recent memory. However, despite early promise, it fails to complete
the transaction. I fear it will leave audiences rather impatient
with the plot and somewhat ho-hum about the conclusion. |
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© Written by TC Candler -
Email Me! |
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How We Rated This Film
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TC Candler -
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C |
| Richard Propes
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Jacob Hall
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Richard
Propes' Comment
n/a
Jacob
Hall's Comment
n/a
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